First, I love the (Dixie) Chicks and would have been happy with a mediocre new album after 14 years. At one point they were considering an album of Patty Griffin covers, which I would've been fine with. I'm tempted to say that I'd love anything with Natalie Maines singing on it, but somehow her solo album from a few years ago just didn't work. But the Chicks have been in my life for a long time. I vividly recall driving across the country by myself from Northern Virginia to New Mexico to attend grad school and playing Wide Open Spaces. It was the perfect song and album for that moment in my life. I remember listening to Fly in our tiny Albuquerque apartment after I got married. They came out with Home, their most traditional country album, when I was back in Virginia, but living down in the country this time. When I was at Kent State getting my PhD and becoming politically engaged for the first time in my life, I took the Bush comment controversy to heart. Of course they were right, and what was done to them was insane. In response, they began writing their own songs for the first time, meeting their ridiculous critics head-on and picking up an AoY Grammy along the way. The first four songs on Long Way Around are as good as any first four songs on any album. The song Not Ready to Make Nice was such a badassed yet vulnerable response to everything that was done to them; I still get a little choked up at the bridge. The song Long Way Around really spoke to me in 2006 as I was finishing my PhD--"taking the long way" and following my own crazy path--when everyone I knew was getting jobs and buying houses. For that eight year run, The Chicks were one of the most important bands in my life.
Fourteen years later, I am a parent and husband first and foremost with, I like to think, a more mature and worldly perspective. Enter Gaslighter, an album that is largely about parenthood, concern for future generations, and the difficulty of human relationships. It's their best album from top to bottom since Wide Open Spaces, and I'm inclined to put it a notch higher since they wrote nearly all of the songs on Gaslighter themselves. I love Wide Open Spaces as a kind of songs of innocence, but I love Gaslighter as their songs of experience.
Most of the tracks on Gaslighter are about Maines' recent divorce. Though, the Chicks have evolved into a song writing team and all three are mothers who have gone through divorces. Still, Natalie's is the focus here and the lyrics often get very specific and personal about her experiences. The songs run a whole range of emotions and responses: disbelief, anger, sadness, meanness, and eventually acceptance if not quite forgiveness. Many of the songs deal with parenting and considering how the breakup of a marriage effects the children involved. This makes for some of the more poignant moments on the album. As a whole, the album follows something of a narrative arc. The opening two tracks are pure anger and shaming an adulterous husband. The final four songs, which are all sublime, come from a position of resignation and reflection. The album ends so strong that I prefer not to listen to any one of those last four tracks without the others.
"Gaslighter"--The title track is not my favorite song on the album. I wasn't even sure that I liked it at first, but then I caught myself humming it later. It's upbeat and undeniably catchy--a solid opening track that sets a tone and presents the main theme of the album: the betrayal of adultery. Gaslighter isn't a political album with the exception of March March, but with their history of being political and politicized, it's hard not to catch the nod to the political gaslighting that's been coming from the American Right for the past two decades (or more).
"Sleep at Night"--This was the next single. It was probably a odd choice for a single. It's kind of an odd song with it's marching band percussion playing off of Emily Strayer's banjo, but it also grew on me pretty quickly. It has a unique sound. The lyrics are powerful and extremely personal--basically, how could you do this to me and to our children. Natalie really sings through the pain here (and elsewhere on the album) as only she can. As with all Chicks albums, while Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer are accomplished musicians, Natalie's voice is what makes the album.
"Texas Man"--Love this song. It's the kind of song that just makes you want to jump up and dance around the room. This probably should've been the first single. I'm not sure how they get the sound they do on the chorus (maybe just a guitar pedal but it has almost a low-horn feel). It's a fun, peppy song about a mature, but certainly not old, woman who's ready to get back out there and love again (or at least have some fun in the sack again). It's a great example of how the band can be kind of sexy sometimes--reminiscent of their cover of Griffin's Truth #2 from Home.
"Everybody Loves You"--This is the only cover on the album and a well chosen one. It's by a young singer-songwriter named Charlotte Young. I'm not sure it isn't about sexual assault or abuse, but in the context of Gaslighter it seems to mean that the public perception of her ex (a fairly famous actor) doesn't match who he really is. By that interpretation, it fits seamlessly.
"For Her"--Not bad but my least favorite song on the album. I do like the female empowerment aspect of it. It seems to be speaking specifically about the female youth and how we value them in our culture.
"March March"--The only overtly political song on the album. I tend to prefer the personal to the political, but this is a good time-capsule for 2020 America. (White supremacists are storming our capital as I write this--ugh.) The real strength is the music. It has a minimal electronic beat throughout most of the verses. Halfway through Martie gets a fiddle solo, which is followed by a banjo solo from Emily. Then the two instruments blend together. The remainder of the song is instrumental, but as powerful as anything on the album. The two sisters get to have their most expressive moments here musically as the A side comes to an end (for you vinyl people out there).
"My Best Friend's Weddings"--The second half of the album returns to the relationship narrative. This song isn't as memorable as the ones that follow, but it represents the shift to a more reflective tone. It also has some snarky moments, which sets up the next song.
"Tights on My Boat"--Here the anger and pain have settled and we get a funny, snarky, FU song directed at the ex. This one doesn't have a big sound. Mostly just voice and acoustic guitar with a little bit of fiddle here and there. Natalie's voice sounds amazing here, but it takes on a swagger that's different from the earlier tracks. At one point, she speaks a line and a few voices in the back ground make a well-timed "oh snap" kind of sound. It works. Here might be a good time to mention that Jack Antonoff from The Bleachers produced this album along with co-writing many of the songs. He was really the forth Chick for this album and his musical instincts really helped make it what it is.
"Julianna Calm Down"--Sometimes simple songs can be really effective. This one is basically the band telling their children to be strong in the face of all the negative people in the world. This is my daughter's favorite song on the album, which makes me really happy. I hope she'll always "strut the fuck around like she's got nothing to lose" when people try to bring her down. It's one of those slow building songs where the sound gets fuller and fuller as it progresses. At the end, Natalie shouts out the names of all of the band's collective children, which makes for a nice effect.
"Young Man"--A very personal song addressed in second person to Natalie's son as they are left to make sense of his father's actions and the breakup of their family. It's another 'hang in there, be strong' statement that really resonates with me as a parent. We can't protect our kids from everything, but we can support them and even try to teach them to learn from our mistakes.
"Hope It's Something Good"--This is my favorite song on the album. The production is really strong for starters. The pain comes back to Natalie's voice in this one, but it's a resigned sadness devoid of any anger. I mostly just love how the chorus sounds. The song follows a verse/chorus/verse/chorus structure, and then there is this instrumental part lead by the fiddle, then some harmonizing. It's beautiful and you don't quite know where it's going until it almost unexpectedly comes back in for one final chorus.
"Set Me Free"--It's hard to separate these last two songs. This feels like the natural second part to Hope It's Something Good. Same sadness and resignation in her voice and in the lyrics. She's accepted that what's lost cannot be repaired. It still hurts, but at this point she's just exhausted and ready for closure. It's time for him to do the decent thing and let her go.
And that's it. I must have listened to this album over a hundred times this summer, often over several drinks. I suppose this will always evoke memories of sitting at home nights during quarantine and finding comfort in the fact that not only did the Chicks finally make an album of new material, but that it ended up exceeding my expectations.
Comments
Post a Comment